Indium redistribution in an InGaN quantum well induced by electron-beam irradiation in a transmission electron microscope

The change of the morphology and indium distribution in an In0.12Ga0.88N quantum well embedded in GaN was investigated depending on the duration of electron-beam irradiation in a transmission electron microscope. Strain-state analysis based on high-resolution lattice-fringe images was used to determine quantitatively the local and average indium concentration of the InGaN quantum well. In-rich clusters were found already in the first image taken after 20 s of irradiation. The indium concentration in the clusters tends to increase with prolonged irradiation time. In contrast, the locally averaged indium concentration and the quantum-well width do not change within the first minute